Help determine the Library’s future (by May 31)

Graduate students are important users of the University Library, and University Librarian Tom Leonard wants your input on which ways the Library will change in the next few years.

He says “I ask that you take the time to answer a survey that will take 10 to 15 minutes to complete. The survey and related information can be accessed at: http://tiny.cc/ucblib. you have ideas or concerns beyond what you tell us in the survey, please share these by sending an email to future@library.berkeley.edu, or, of course, to me directly: TomL@Berkeley.edu. Your response will tell us about what should matter most when we ask libraries to help create, share, and preserve the work of the academy. The answers to these questions will guide face-to-face discussions with faculty and students and shape the plan we choose. Your comments will guide the Library’s decisions. These will be outlined in an ‘Outcome Letter’ from me in Fall 2012.”

This request has been publicized in a number of ways around campus. What we’re doing here is underlining the urgency factor: the last chance to express your priorities through the survey is Thursday, May 31.

(The Library staff has shrunk by over 70 positions — one-fifth of its people. A variety of ways to re-envision the Library have been proposed, involving transformation of its space, consolidation of some of its locations where better service overall can result. Help choose the future. Take the survey.)